New Delhi: Hockey is regarded as the national sport while cricket is the most popular game in India but the national federations running the two sports in the country currently have not been granted annual recognition by the government.

The government introduced annual recognition procedure for the National Sports Federations in 2010 and those NSFs which complied with the guidelines and furnished complete information/documents sought by the sports ministry are eligible to receive financial and other forms of assistance.

51 NSFs are currently recognised by the government while 10 other, including the BCCI, have not been granted recognition for various reasons such as non-compliance of guidelines and non-submission of complete documents, Sports Minister Ajay Maken said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

Apart from BCCI, the NSFs of hockey, netball, throwball and gymnastics have also not been granted annual recognition due to dispute between various factions in the management of these federations, Maken informed the House.

No NSF has been given annual recognition by the ministry which has not adhered to the government guidelines, he added.